Charlotte messenger. [volume] (Charlotte, Mecklenburg Co., N.C.) 1882-18??, 1887-04-16

were jist over raise o. ground from our
cabin in the clearin, maybe fotr or i've
rod away, but out o sight, cause 'twere
N the gulley, twenty-five foot iowef'n
the clearin'. An speakin' O. sucker fish
in, sonny, yen see, 'fofo / cit through
with this ieetle anecdote, th't III was
suckers In the. creeks III them days. TIL
haint none in 'em now, but thur many
o one, ,.outen the creeks, an big un's,
too. Wall, wen / come in sight O. whar
OF Sloplick orter been iist more thin bill.
ing, OWN to the hard rains, almos'
tumbled back in a faintin' fit. Th'
Want no Sloplick tharl The bed O. th,
creek were dryer'n salt herrin' Ez fur cz
| could see down the creek, picked
chicken couldn't a ben no barer thin
them rocks on the bottom was. The
creek had fall o. more'n twenty foot to
the miled, an even in low water went
down by thar, on Its way to the river
three mled below, like peeled hemlock
log down roll way, an thar she were,
artcr all them rains, dry an empty from
bank to bank. Pelcg, Iwere skecrt, and
| tuck to trembiih' wuss thin hungry
dog ut daylight on frosty morn
in. / thort the world were comir'
TO an end right thar an then. Pooty
soon l got stiddy enough to look up the
creek, an then were skeert wuss'n ever,
fer 'boht quarter of miled away, in
that direction, thar were the creek agoin'
up stream ez fast ez it could tear! Coin
right up that big grade O. twenty foot to
the milcd, Peleg, like train O. keers!
Wen l see that jist Topped right down
an waited fer the earthquakes an Gabriel
to come followin' along, acrackin' an
atootin'. l laid thar awhile, but they
didn't neither on 'em come. an the creek
KEEP aclimbin' up to'ards its headwaters,
zif it'd ben sent fer to come back hum
an hadn't no time to spare gittin' thar.
Tt were movin' back ards in food more'n
thirty foot high, ez nigh ca I could jedge
from seein' the gable end of it, and pooty
soon I noticed that tn were a heap o.
commotion on the edge of it.
"'Wall, says ! to myself, gittin' up
opter my feet, 'th' can't be nothin' TO
burt feller in food th't's doin' its
best TO run away from him like
that, says ], ~'an' so | guess I'll
quit waitin' fer Gabriel an the 'arth
quakes, says l, an II list start arter that
creek an see watts a ailin' on it to
make it go an cut up that way says l.
so away dug ez tight ex my legs'd
carry me, but the creek had got such a
start o. me that it tuck me good half
hour fore / ketched up with it. An ez
soon ez l did ketch up with it. my son,
see to wunst wat were ailin' on it. Ye
must know, to git the hang O. this, Peleg,
th't suckers starts fer the creeks on the
fust high water th't comes in the spring,
an th't they gether together by the boat
load at the mouths of creeks waitin' fer
the flood th't tells EN- things is ready fer
EN- up the creek, an then up they go.
That had been an onusu'l good season for
suckers to winter over in, an they had
waxed an crowd fat, an gethered in
such uncommon big crowds, th't wen
they started in at the mouth o. Sloplick
Creek that ninth day o. April, they jest
damned the hull course o. the stream, an
fer time it had been nip an tuck ez to
witch d hef to stop, the creek or the
suckers. But in them days suckers had
vim an push in 'em, These fellers at the
mouth o. Sloplick had started to git up
that creek, am 'twa'n't their fault, b'gosh,
if it couldn't furnish water enough, with
all the rain it d had fer week past, fer
EN- to wiggle up on; so they jist put their
shoulders to the wheel, an at it they
went, an showed the rushin' food of oil
Slopliek right back with EN-, pilin' it up
in wall thirty foot high, an keepin' her
a movin' back so fast, steep ez the grade
were, th't she couldn't git no footholt,
an had to go. So, of course, ev'rything
were left high an dry ahind that pushin'
army o. suckers, an natur' in them parts
were lookin' queer.
''Peleg, when l ketched upto that re-
treatin' creek, nothin' could be seen on
face o. that high wall but snouts, an
tails, an fins, an backs, an bellies o.
suckers. They was piled on one another
from the bed o. the creek to the top o.
the food, pushin' an shown and crowd
in to keep the ball rollin'. ! see wat
the hull business meant to wunst, an |
pitched right in to do some o. the tallest
along Sloplick Creek. chucked away
my pole and duv inter that bank o.
suckers an jist went to mimi fish by the
ton. They KEEP me on a dead run to keep
up with 'cm, they was h'istin' that stream
up hill so fast, but grabbed an clawed
right an left, an throw'd suckers out on
the bank by the wagon load. / strung
suckers along the banks fer a miled, an
still the food went rollin' up hill cz easy
ez piclSin' up sticks. The headwaters o.
Sloplick Creek was in a swamp almost on
the top o. BOBBY Ridge. Ez were run
min long ahind that sucker bank all of a
suddcnt it struck me that If nothin' hap
pened to stop 'em, them suckers'd shove
the creek clean through the swamp, the
way they was goin', and push her on over
the ridge, and then she'd 20 tehoot down
t'other side, and an wipe Slaycrop's
clearing often the face o. creation quick
cr'n lightnin' could melt tub of butter
were bound TO see the fun, an il suck
ers want the timidest an skeericst crit
tcrs th't swims, that fun d come to
pass.
1T had happened, sonny, tht only
the other day afore this high oil sucker
iishin' o mine, / had considered IL lee
tie piece o. duty owed 10 the commu-